Joseph h



J. H. DOWNS.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGENE. APPLICATION FILED APR-12. 1918.

Y Patented Sept. 9,1919;

8% L 221g 2 w, HHSJ I JOSEPH H. DQWNS, 0F WOODBURW, INDIANA.

INTERNAL- COMBUSTION ENGINE.

Application filed April 12, 1918. Seriallto. 228,901.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JosEPH H. Downs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Woodburn, in the county of Allen, State of Indiana, have invented-a new and useful Internal-Combustion Engine; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to a double acting four cycle internal combustion engine, and has for its object to provide an engine of this character which embodies novel features of construction whereby each of the pistons will receive a power impulse for every revolution of the crank shaft, and in which the pistons will'fibe accurately guided in their reciprocating movements so as to prevent leakage of the gases and side wear upon the pistons and cylinders.

Further objects of the invention are to provide an engine of this character which is simple and compact in its construction, which provides for .thoroughly gcavenging the c linders of burned gases, and which is positive and reliable in its action.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel combinations and arrangements of the parts as will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the novel features thereof being pointed out in the appended claims.

For a full understanding of the invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which v Figure 1 is a side elevation of an internal combustion engine constructed in accordance with the invention, one-half thereof being broken away and shown in section to illustrate more clearly the details of coin struction.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view through the engine.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of one end of the engine.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view through one of the cylinders, looking downwardly, and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail View of the lower end of one of thepiston rods and the tubular guide member for the same, showing the small expansible packing rings Which are fitted upon the piston rod.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followin description and indicated inall the views 0 the drawings by the same reference characters. 7

For the purpose of illustration, the invention 1s shown as embodied in a six-cylinder engine, although it will be obvious that the number of cylinders may be increased or decreased, as desired. The numeral 1 designates the cylinder casting which is Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 9, 1919.

preferably formed as an integral part, and

is shown as formed with the six cylinders A, B, O, D, E and F. Upper and lower cylinder heads 2 and 3 respectively are applied to the cylinder casting 1 and rigidly secured in position 111 any suitable'manner as by means of the bolts 4:. Pistons 5 are mounted to reciprocate within the respective cylinders, being provided' with piston rods 6 which extend downwardly through tubular guides 7 applied to the lower cylinder head 3, and being operatively connected at their lower ends to the crank shaft 8 by means of connecting rods 9. This crank shaft is of the conventional construction, being journaled within suitable bearings 10 and'houscd within a conventional crank case 11. A fly wheel 12 is shown as applied to-one end of the crank shaft. I 1

The upper cylinder head 2 is shown as provided upon opposite sides thereof with inlet passages 13 and exhaust passages 14', said passages each communicating with the corresponding engine cylinder through. a pair of ports which are controlled by puppet valves. The two inlet valves 15 are formed with valve stems 16 which extend upwardly through the cylinder head and-terminatein heads 17 springs 18 bein interposed between the heads and top 0% the en inc and operating to normally hold the va ves in a closed position. In a similar manner the two exhaust valves19 are each formed with the cylinder head and terminate in heads21 which are engaged by the springs 22, said springs normally holdingthe valves in a closed position. Rocker arms 23 are provided for opening the exhaust valves 19, while similar but shorter rocker arms 24: are provided for opening the inlet valves 15 said rocker arms being pivoted at 25 in a superposed relation upon upstanding brackets 26. The outer ends of these rocker arms are connected to vertical push rods 27 which extend downwardly into the crank case, be-

ing directed in their up and down move ments by the guide sleeves 28, and bein actuated at the proper intervals of time y a cam shaft 29.

Y The lower cylinder head has a construction similar to that of the upper cylinder head, being provided with inlet passages 30 and exhaust passages 31 which open through opposite sides thereof, sald passages each-communicating with the bottom of the respective engine cylinder through a pair of ports. Puppet valves 32 control'the inlet ports, while puppet valves 33 control the tending to hold the valves in a closed position. Rocker arms 40 are provided for opening the inlet valves, while shorter but similar rocker arms 41 are provided for opening the exhaustvalves, sa1d rocker arms being pivoted at 42 in asuperposed relation upon brackets 43 which project downwardly from the lower cylinder head. The free ends of the rocker arms are connected to pull rods 44 which slide verticallythrough guides 45, being provided at their lower ends with lateral arms 46 adapted to be ac tuated by the cam members of a second cam shaft 47 An exhaust manifold 48 is applied to one side of the engine, being formed with upper and lower branches which communicate with the exhaust passages of both the upper and lower cylinder heads, and being held in position by suitable fastening members 49. In a similar manner the .inlet manifold 50 is applied to, the opposite side of the engine, being formed with upper and lower branches which extend along the upper and lowercylinder heads, and being secured in position by suitable fastening members 51. The two cam shafts 29 and 47 are driven from the main shaft 8 by a suitable two to one gearing, being shown for the purpose of illustration as provided with'sprocket wheels 52 which are engaged by a chain 53, said chain also engaging a sprocket wheel 54 on .the crank shaft. The ratio of the .sprocket wheels is such that the cam shafts have a-two to one motion, or make one complete revolution to each two complete revolutions of the main shaft, and the cams are arranged in such a manner as to open the inlet and exhaust valves at exactly the proper intervals of time.

The piston rods 6 are slidable through tubular guide sleeves Twhiehqrelhreaded in the lower cylinder head 3 and project 1ownwardly therefrom. In order to prevent leaka e around the piston rods the latter are provi ed with annular grooves within which expansible metal packing rings 55 are fitted, said packing rings being identical in c0n-- struction with the conventional piston rings, and operating in an identical manner to engage the guides 7 and prevent the-leakage of ases on the power stroke.

he upper cylinder head'2 is provided with spark plugs 56 which are arranged concentrically with respect to the cylinders, the

lower sparkplugs 57 extending through the The valves at the top of the cylinder are arranged in a corresponding manner, and it will be obvious that with the two inlet ports and two exhaust ports at each end of the cylinder, there w1ll be no difiiculty in efiectlvely scavenging the cylinders and introducing fresh charges into the same. In Fig. l the upper and lower cylinder heads are shown as broken away at one end, the section being such as to extend through the exhaust passages of cylinder 0 and the inlet passages of cylinder A, the section taking a median line for cylinder B.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A double acting internal combustion engine, including a cylinder, upper and lower cylinder heads closing the ends of the cylinder and each provided with inlet and outlet passages communicating with the ends of the cylinder through a plurality of ports, spring closed puppet valves controlling the ports and formed with stems which project slidably through the respective cylinder heads, a pair of bracket arms projecting outwardly from each of the cylinder heads, a pair of parallel and superposed rock shafts journaled between each pair of bracket arms, a plurality of fingers projecting laterally from each of the rock shafts, the fingers of one rock shaft engaging the stems of the puppet valves controlling the inlet ports while the fingers of the other, rock shaft engage the stems of the puppet valves control-- ,cam shafts, having" operative connectinns with the arms of the upper and lower sets and an exhaust port, spring closed puppet valves controlling the ports and formed with stems which project slida'bly through the cylinder heads, a pair of bracket arms projecting from each cylinder head, a pair of superposed rock shafts journaled between each pair of bracket arms, fingers pr0jecting laterally from the respective rock shafts and engaging the stems of the respective inlet and exhaust valves, operating arms projecting from the rock shafts, a pair of in dependent cam shafts arranged at the base of the engine and extending longitudinally along opposite sides thereof, push rods connected to the arms of-the upper set of rock shafts and arranged to be actuated by one cam shaft, and pull rods connected to the arms of the lower set of rock shafts and em ranged to be actuated by the other cam shaft.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two sul'iscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH H. DOWNS.

Witnesses:

LOUIS F. F URLLING,

BERT SHAFFER. 

